NHL Playoff TV Ratings Thrive Without Rangers, Leafs And Other Big Market Teams In Round 1
The first weekend of the Stanley Cup playoffs had three of the most-watched NHL games ever in the first round, excluding Game 7s. Not bad for a year without four Original Six teams and no Tri-State area squads.
OTTAWA - Not having the Toronto Maple Leafs , New York Rangers or several other big-market teams in the playoffs hasn't negatively affected TV ratings. Quite the contrary. According to ESPN, the first weekend of the Stanley Cup playoffs had three of the most-watched games ever in the first round (excluding Game 7s) on cable TV, with ESPN averaging 1.
6-million viewers over five games during the opening weekend. That's an increase of 141 percent in viewership from last year's first round. The biggest draw was last Saturday night's Game 1 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers , which had 2.
1-million viewers tuning, followed by a Saturday late-afternoon Game 1 between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars (1. 9 million), and last Sunday night's Game 1 between the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins (1. 7 million).
It wasn't just the American-based teams that pulled in viewers. Game 1 between the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators , which kicked off the start of the playoffs and began at 3 p. m.
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